Pleasure-railway.



Patented Nov. 28, |899. H. FUNK.

PLEASURE RAILWAY.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY FUNK, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

PLEASU RE-RAILWAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 637,775, dated November28, 1899.

Appie-nn nea me 26,1899. see-1 Nn 791 ,R91

To @ZZ whom t may concern.-

Beit known that I, HENRY FUNK, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of New York, (Brooklym) county of Kings, and State of New York,have invented new and useful Improvements in Pleasure-Railways,of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved pleasure-railwayin which anoverhead rail is suspended from acable that constitutes a yieldingsupport for the rail and insures great safety with a minimum amount offraming or supporting-timbers.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure lis a side elevation of my improvedpleasure-railway; Fig. 2, a plan thereof; Fig. 3, an end View; Fig. 4, adetail of the end portion of one of the rails Fig. 5, a cross-sectionthrough the rails; Fig. 6, a longitudinal section of a modication of oneof the terminals; Fig. 7, across-section thereof; and Fig. 8, a detailof a terminal, showingapair of cables and tracks arranged side by side.

The railway, brieiiy stated, is composed of an inclined track suspendedfrom cables and engaged by the overhead pulley of the carriage, which ismoved along the track by gravity.

d and l) represent the terminal uprights connected by cross-timbers a bto constitute frames over which extend two'cables c c', the ends ofwhich are anchored in suitable manner. To the outer side of each frameor o.' and b b' there is connected by braces d d2 an arched rigid endbeam d and da, such beams constituting in effect a connection betweenthe upper ends of the cables c c', so that in this way a continuousoverhead supporting structure is formed. From this structure there aresuspended by hangers e a pair of endless parallel rails f, placed sideby side, Fig. 5, and so arranged that the startingpoint f of the trackis in a higher vertical plane than the stopping-point f2, so that thecarriage g will be propelled by gravity. Between the points f f2 thetrack should be alternately raised and lowered to produce acorresponding pleasant undulating motion of the carriage. The latter issuspended from the rails f by the yoke g', that projects upwardlybetween the rails and forms the bearing for (Nn 'mnriell the axle of apair of hanged rollers g2 engaging such rails. When the carriage hasarrived at the end of its run, it is drawn from point f2 to point f andthere held by indentations f3 in rails f, that engage rollers g2, Fig.4..

The passengers reach the carriage by an upper platform h and afterhaving finished the ride leave it by a lower platform h'.

In Figs. 6 and 7 the pulley g4 of the carriage is guided directly uponthe cable c2 in lieu of being supported upon the rail. Here the terminalstation c' is provided with a longitudinal groove i', adapted to receivethe cable, and with a shoulder i2 at each side of the groove. As thepulley g4 arrives upon the station z' its groove will clear the cableand its flan ges will engage the shoulders 2, so that a rigid supportfor the carriage while loading is obtained.

In Fig. 8 a number of rails f f are arranged side by side, each pair ofsuch rails being suspen'ded from a separate cable c. Thus any number ofconcentric tracks may be formed, each of which serves for the propulsionof a carriage.

It will be seen that my improved pleasurerailway is constructed with aminimum amount of framework and that as the rails are suspended fromcables an agreeable yielding support is given to the carriage.

Vhat I claim is- 1. A pleasure-railway composed of a pair of end frames,cables supported thereby, rigid curved end beams connecting the cables,a rail suspended from the cables and beams, and a carriage adapted toengage the rail, substantially as specified.

2. A pleasure-railway composed of a pair of end frames, cables supportedthereby, rigid curved end beams connecting the cables, a pair ofparallel grooved rails suspended from the cables and beams, and acarriage having an upwardly-projecting yoke, and a pair of wheels thatare adapted to engage the rails, substantially as specified.

HENRY FUNK.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM SCHULZ, F. v. BEIESEN.

